Former Mountain View coach is learning about all the ways that make Camas football so special, and community is a huge part of the program’s success

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

CAMAS — It was a change, a major change in his life.

He did not seek the change. In fact, he never figured on this change.

Now?

Well, change can be a good thing.

Adam Mathieson is getting ready for his first football season as the head coach of the Camas Papermakers.

Two years ago this August, Mathieson was preparing for his 15th season as the head coach at nearby Mountain View. He had no idea that the job he loved would not be his just eight months later. 

Last football season, he joined the staff at Camas. Well, in a way. 

He described it as a consulting job. 

“I just tried to help in any way I could,” Mathieson said of the 2023 season. 

He had a new full-time job at Camas High School, and he enjoyed learning about its football program, too. Doing so without an official coaching title gave him a freedom he had not felt in years.

He said he was simply there for then head coach Jack Hathaway.  Mathieson gave himself time to embrace Camas football.

“It was a nice way to kind of step back and be involved in a program that obviously has been very good for several decades,” Mathieson said. “It’s a program that I’ve respected from afar for a while. I was not needed. I just tried my best to fit in and help where I could.”

It turns out, by this past winter, Mathieson was needed.

Hathaway, who remains on staff, stepped down as the head coach. Camas did not search very long for his replacement.

A longtime head coach is back to being a head coach again.

“When Jack stepped down, your first inclination was, ‘Is Jack OK?’ Then you start to talk about it,” Mathieson said of his thought process in deciding whether to pursue the opportunity.

“You start analyzing. Is this the kind of place that you can be for five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 years?” said Mathieson, who, at 48, says he does not have too many more 10-year jobs left in him.

“That part matters to me. Is it a place where you can see you and your family for a long time?”

Football wise, that is a no-brainer. Camas’ athletic facilities are top-of-the-line. The school is proud of its brand new red turf  on its practice field. The weight room is stacked. Doc Harris Stadium is a gem. 

But more than that, the support from the superintendent, the principal, and the athletic director also showed Mathieson that this could be the place for him.

The real tipping point was the city, the community.

“It kind of harkened back to my old Ferndale days,” Mathieson said of his time coaching in Whatcom County. “A one-horse town. To be able to get back to that, where it’s community based. To be able to do this in a community that is passionate about athletics, passionate about their kids. As an educator for three decades, I’m passionate about the development of young people.

“The more I looked into it, the more I felt it was a pretty good fit.”

Mathieson went 99-52 in his 15 seasons at Mountain View, which included five league championships.

The expectations at Camas are even higher. The Papermakers have won 11 of the past 13 league championships as well as state titles in 2016 and 2019.

In fact, one of the first things Mathieson did when taking over the head coaching position was to check his ego at the door.

“I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I mean, Camas has won a lot of football games without me. I’m still learning the insides of what has made Camas Camas,” Mathieson said. “It’s definitely not a program that needed a reboot of any kind.”

So he will be leaning on defensive coordinator Dan Kielty, considered one of the best defensive minds in all of Washington high school football. Mathieson said he is thrilled that Hathaway, who has been with the Camas program as an assistant or head coach for more than a decade, is still on staff.

Wise veterans from the Camas staff will guide the new Camas head coach.

But the new coach does have lofty expectations.

“You want to have the opportunity to play in November and December. It’s special to practice on Thanksgiving. It’s special to play in Husky Stadium,” Mathieson said.

Football players still practicing on Thanksgiving in Washington have reached the state semifinals. Husky Stadium is the site of the state championship games in December.

“But you know there is a long time between now and then,” Mathieson said. “Getting there has nothing to do with that moment on the calendar. It has everything to do with what you do in February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and September.”